Improvement in bottle-pilling apparatus



Sheets-Sheet 1. 0". A. GREGORY; A BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS.

" Patented July 12,}8'70.

cams PETERS'CQ. Pnofcrumod wAsu 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

0.A.GRBGORY. BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS.

No."1 05,3 28. Patented Ju1y 1Z, 1870.

3 Sheets- Sheet 3.

0. A. GREGORY.

- BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS.

Patented July 12, 1870.

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i Letters Patent No. 105,328, dated J all 12, 1870.

mrnovnmnnr-m Borne-mums APPARATUS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent: and making part of the saine To all whom it may concern.-

' Be it known that I, CHARLES ALEXANDER GREG- DRY, of the city of Ponghkeepsie, in the county of Dntchess and State ofNew York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Apparatus for Filling Bottles, Vials, and other vessels, and gauging their contents; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description. of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, in which?- Figure 1 represents a front elevation ofthc apparatus. Y

Figure 2 represents a'side elevation of the apparatus. y

Figure 3 represents a sectional elevation.

Figure 4 represents a sectional elevation of a modification.

Figures 5 and 6, details of the apparatus.

Figure 7 represents detnilof the framing, &c.

Figure 8 represents plan of fig. 6.

Figures 9 andlO represents details of the apparatus.

.This invention has for its object the construction of a machine or apparatus for filling bottles, and by the nscot' which the labor oftho ordinary way may be very much reduced, and loss by spilling or overflowing of the bottles beobviatcd. V

In the drawing, similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The letter a. is the frame-work, of any suitableconstmc'tion, on the upper partof which the tank I) is placed. I

This tank is for the purpose of holding a supply of the fluid with which the bottles are to be filled. It is filled from time to time by the tun-dish c, fig. 3, or it may beprovided with a pipe, .valve, and float arrangement, 0 a, connected with any other suitable pipe,

for conducting the fiuid from abarrel or other reser- -voi r, suitably situated above, and, by this arrange-- ment, the level of the fluidin the tank 7) is maintained.

The bottom of the tank b is provided with an opening, to which is attached the pipe c", provided, as shown in fig; 2, with a valve, c, and valve-seat, c, by which the cylinder (l is filled as required.

The cylinder it is attached to and held in its proper position by any suitable means, together with the union joint (1, which couples the valve-seat and pipe 0 togethcr.

In the bottom of this cylinder a valve, d, is placed,

- attached to a rod, (1.

This rod extends 'up through the cylinder, and is attached to a lever, 11, situated abovethe top of the ,tank- I), as shown in fig. 3, and will be hereinafter more particularly dcscribei The cylinder (1 is provided with a piston, e, to which is attached a tube, 0, acting as a piston-rod, and at the same time allows the valve-rod (1" to slide'npand down freely within it.

The cylinder (1 is also provided with a cover, a, with a neck extending npward,.witli the set-screw, e, placed To the top of the rod eis'attached a cap, flserewed onto it, and provided with packing, f to keep it air tight on the upper part of rod 1!". v

To this cap is attached a pointer, f, arranged to indicate, on a scalc,f, figs. 2 and 3, the area for fluid below the piston c. 1

The rod (1", in its lower part, consists of a solid round rod, and in its upper part of a tube. At the point of junction the solid rod is made of any suitable configuration, to allow of the passage of air from the tubular upper partto thesnndtsnaeeexistingbe tween the lower part cl and tubular piston 0, so that, as the fluid contained in the cylinder flows out when the valve d is lift-ed for that purpose, the air flows in through this opening.

On the top of the tank I) a bracket, g, is placed, having two arms extending in a suitable manner, for the rods d and guide g to pass through, and at the same time serving as guides for the same.

The ends are confignrated to receive the spiral, springs g, which act on a collar, .9, on the rod d, and keep the valve d securely closed, and the spiral spring 71, which acts on the bottom of the collar of the point ll- ,Zti;tft(3il(ti1 to ,the lever 11, and-keeps the valve 0 open, the lever d being supplied with a handle, h for working the same.

The'ljottom It of the cylinder (1 extends downward, as shown in fig. 3, and to this cxtension, 'h*, is attached a yoke, i, provided with guide-bars i, on whiehafunnel-gnide, t, slides freely up and down.

Within the extension In. a suitable pipe, i is attached, for the purpose of entering into the bottles or other vessels to be filled, there being a suitable space left for the escape of the air contained within the vcs sol filled, between the neck of the funnel ifand pipe i In the modification shown in fig. 4, the same general principles exist-, bnt with the following exceptions:

The apparatus is arranged for one given size or capacity of vessel to be filled, and is more particularly adapted for the purpose of filling beerbottles, 860., the tank I) being provided with a cylinder, d, attached immediately to it. This cylinder is made of the cubical capacity of the vessel to be filled, and at its bottom is provided with any suitable valve, 1:, which opens downward. e j

' This valve is attached, bya rod, k, to the cap it, of

the form shown in the drawing.

The rod it passes within a tube, 7;", which serves as tome . by the pipe k, or part'oi' the rod k may be reduced or cutaway for this purpose, as shown in fig. 4.-

Within the *cap it 'a spiral spring, it", is placed,

which acts on the bottomof the cap 16 and the top of a collar, 1, attached to the rod 7;, and rests upon a suitably-formed. collar-end of the arm I, attached.

to rock-shaft It, to the outer end of which is attached any suitable lever and. handle, I, for working the same, the bottom of the cylinder being terminated in the form shown in. the drawing, and provided with the parts i, t, and i, described in fig.-3.

In both of the arrangements shown in figs. 3 and 4 but one cylinder is shown, but the apparatus may be constructed with any suitable number of them, each being. provided with the variouspartshereinbefore described, when the tank I) may be open throughout, or may be divided into separate compartments for each cylinder.

The modification shown in fig. 3 may also be worked in the following manner, to accomplish the sarm'nnrpose.

The valves 0 and 11 may be reversed and to the piston c a solid piston-rod may be attached, connected to the lever (1. By raising the piston in the cylinder,

- and causing the valve 0' to open, the fluid contained in the tank b will'lic drawn into the cylinder; when, by again pressing down the piston, thevalve c'lcloses, while d opens, and the fluid-contained in the cylinder is forced out through the pipe i". In this case, the piston-rod will be provided with any suitable adjustable stops, whereby the length of the stroke may be regulated, and thus the measurement of the fluid discharged at each operation be obtained.

In figs. 511ml 6 is shown the detail of a modification of pipes '01 and k, for the purpose of obviating the difiiculty found to exist in filling bottles, &c., with fluids inclined to fi'oth or foam in so doing, and by which theyare made to flow out of .thepipe into the side of the vessel.

Figs-7 and S'show the arrangement of the lower:

part of the frame-work a, as adapted for-filling six vessels simultaneously, the side elevation being similar to that of fig. 2.

In the two uprights suitable slots m are made, in whichthe ends of the bar on work, and are provided with screws m and nuts in, to secure it at any re-. quired height.

To this bar m are attached two arms or brackets, o, figs. 1 and 2, with the outer ends formed in the shape of eyes, wherein theshaft 0.. is. placed. This shaftis provided with a handle, 0, at one end, and rotated by it, and in suitable positions with the arms 0, acting on the bottom of a table, p, arranged to slide up and down between the uprights of the frame-work, by

means of a groove, 1), and corresponding guides 11,

attached to the tablep. I

Upon the upper side of this table are placed the springs q, for the purpose of holding the vessels to be filled in their proper positionllatcrally, while to the uprights are attached two double eyes, q, figs. 1, 2,3, and 4, with the ends of the rods r'attached by meansof a pivot, on which they freely rotate.

On these rods the sliding sockets r are placed.- each providcd with a projection for the reception of the ends of the cross-bar r, secured in any desired position by the set-screws 'r.

On the cross-bare are placed six plates, 8 s, attached to or forming part of it. On the end of the .rods r1, extending beyond r or, spiral springs a are placed, acting on .r at one end, while the other end presses against a collar, 3, screwed on the end of the rods 1'.

This cross-bar, with its variousparts, is for the purpose of pushing the vessel to he filled and placed in front of each of the platcss into their. proper positions under the pipes t and; L shown in figs. 3 and 0.

In fig. 10 is shown another modification for placing the. bottles, and consists of any ordinary bottle-rack, 8, made for any number of bottles, and divided byt-ho strips s,'cxtending the entire depth of the box or rack, while those 'in the other direction t are only about half the depth, the bottom'bcing formed in separate parts t, placed between each of the divisions s. This box slides on suitable rails t, attached to the frame a.

Asomewhat similar arrangement, t, to that shown at 0, o, and o, is also provided, by means of which each bottom, t, may be separately lifted to the height the bottles pla'ccdiu it to enter the pipe at, i, or 7. within thcin. This will also be provided. with any suitable catch, to hold it in that position while being filled and lowered, after which the next row of hottles is brought to the required position by sliding the. rack s on-thc rail i When these are not used the apparatus is provided with suitable trays, shown at u, in fig. 2, on which the bottles filled are pushed by those about to be filled, by the bar r and plate 3',

bar in, and is carried by any suitable support-,1 1, toward its other extremity. The tray u may also be provided with any suitable sliding bar, to prevent the bottles, after beingfilled, from falling over.

Having now described the construction of my invention and its various motlifications,'I will now proceed to describe its operation, the apparatus having been arranged substantially as described, referring first to the. modification shown in fig. 3.

The tank b-having been filled in the manner dcscribed, and the piston c adjusted to the height rcquircd, the exact quantity to fill the vessel will be indicated by the pointer f on the scale f, and, being secured in this position by the set-screw c, the valve c"be ing kept open, the fluid flows into and fills the. cylinder up to the level of the bottom of the piston c, the air contained in the cylinder escaping, as beforedcscribed, through the space existing in and between tended to be filled are now put in place, in the manner hereinbefore described, and raised by the action them, in doing which the funnel-guid d assists in bringing them to the proper position, and slides upon the bars 'i to the required height. After this the handle h is raised, causing the valve 0 to close, and preventany further. tlowoilfluid from the tank I). By

. and the fluid contained in the cylinder tlows out into the bottle, the air returning to fill the cylinder by the same passage as before described, in the rods 11 and c. In the modification shown in fig. 4 the bottles are placed as before described, and the pipe It" introduced into them. The tank 7) htwing been filled with fluid, and the piston-valve I open, it flows at once into and fills the cylinder (1. By pressing down the handle I, it causes the valve 1 to close the top .of the cylinder, and at the same time opens the valve 7-: for the fluid contained in thecylinder to discharge into the vessels below, the air being admitted to fill the cylinder as the fluid discharges bythe space existing between the rods Zr and 7c. n

The machine is arranged with a number of cylinders and corresponding parts, and constructed to be operated simultaneously by one handle, and if theof the bottom of the division t, causing the necks of shown in fig. 8. This tray rests on the back side of the rods d and e. The bottles or other vessels in-' of the lever 0 causing the pipe 5 t enter wit-bin still further raising the handle, the valve d is opened,

that particular bottle, by which the valve 11 is again opened, and any desired amonnt will flow out.

used-for filling bottles, vials, &c., especially that for whiclrLetters Patent of the United 'St-a'tes were gralnted'to me in the year 1860, but operating in a difierent manner, and substantially as follows:

The measuring-cylinders have but one capacity or measurement, and should any dlfierence ,in' the size of the bottles eitist, so that onereqnires a little more t fill it, no arrangement is'rnade by which that particiilar bottle can have anextra amount added without at the same'time giving an equal portion to the others,. which ivonld cause them to overflow. Thisis provided'for in the modification shown in fi'g. 4.

Again, in the apparatus as arranged in fig. 3 a greater difference exists,' the cylinder being provided with a piston by which the portion of it to be used asa gauge may be varied; and thus any desired measurement within the limit of the capacity of the cylinder be obtained.

. Having now described the construction and opera tlou of my invention,

What I claim as my invention; and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

e1. The tank le -cylinder d, and connecting-pipe c, innomhinati'on :with the .vzdre 0, rod g!.,valve1l, .rod

d", and lever (lg all arranged in the manner and for the purpose described.

.2, The coii bination of the lever d and rods d and g with the bracket 9 and springs g and h,snbstau'- tially as and for the purpose specified. I am aware-that apparatus has been invented and 3. The combination of the adjustable piston 0, rod c cap j; and' scale f all working together substantially as described.

4. The pointer f and scale f, in combination with the piston 0, rod d, set-screw a, and cylinder d, all working together in-t-he manner and for the purpose specified.

' 5., The funne'l-gnide'i and-guides i, by which the neck of the bottle is caused to enter the pipe t h m, in con'lbination'with the cylinder (Z and valve d?, all arranged in the mannerand for the purpose described.

6. The table p,-provide'd' with springs q, and fitted to slide vertically between the side pieces a of the frame-work, in combination with-the lifting apparatus 0 0 0 0", adjustable bar m, set-screws m, and slots m, all arranged as and forhthepnrposespecified.--

7.-'1he combination of the table 12, springs q, double eyes q, rods 4', sockets r, cross-bar rr, set-screws '1', plates 8, springs s, and eollarss, snbstantially'as described.

CHARLES ALEXANDER GREGQRY.

Witnesses:

Josnen Anonnn, Jr., fiifiomxaom 

